Abstract: This file contains letters on a variety of administrative and political matters in Oman. This includes correspondence relating to the appointment of Political Agents in Muscat, the Omani state's finances, and a descriptive account of Muscat by Mr Apothecary Gaspar de Rozario, and a Muscat trade report from 1867-April 1868. The file also includes printed and written reports relating to the suppression of Wahhabi pirates from 1865-66; printed copy correspondence relating to Bahrain from 1847-58; printed copy of correspondence relating to slave trade; 1866 resolution of the Ottoman Porte relative to the abolition and prevention of the slave trade; 1866-74 report on piracy in the Persian Gulf by Captain Samuel Hennell, Assistant Resident in the Gulf; 1830 printed copy correspondence relating to the electric telegraph, 1861; a schematic chart of the coast of Persia, and printed copies of correspondence relating to Kalat 1861-71.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 185; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 105-170; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains a partial translation of a text entitled 'Tenets of the Ibadhi Sect of Oman' from a MS Arabic work entitled the 'Keshf-ul-Ghummeh' of the Shaikh Sarhan bin Sa`id bin Sarhan bin Mohammed el-`Alawi a native of Oman. The translation and introductory notes are by Major Edward Charles Ross, Political Agent, Muscat. The file also includes an abstract of the Portuguese-Omani treaty of 1872, and the translation of the 1828 Perso/Muscat treaty.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 49; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: These papers, which are spread across two volumes, contain material relating to mines and mining rights in Persia, and more specifically to the affairs of the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation Limited, of which George Nathaniel Curzon was a director.The first part (26 March 1890-27 March 1892) is mostly comprised of received correspondence regarding Curzon's appointment to the board of directors of the recently formed Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation and the company's interests in mines and mining rights in Persia. Also included in this part are facsimiles of company correspondence and reports, forwarded to Curzon by the company's Secretary, Lewis Hamilton, concerning the company's affairs, with discussion of existing and potential mining sites in Persia. Notable correspondents in this part include Edward Albert Sassoon of David Sassoon and Company, as well as fellow board members and other representatives and associates of the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation such as Lewis Hamilton, Sir Lepel Henry Griffin, and Albert Houtum-Schindler.The second part (1 July 1889-20 December 1892) consists of Curzon's own handwritten notes plus a selection of reports, printed papers, newspaper cuttings, and correspondence, not only on mining and mining rights in Persia, but also regarding the affairs of the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation. It includes a list of those mines that are privately-owned and those that have been given in lease by the Persian Government, as well as details of Persian mines that are at the disposal of the Imperial Bank of Persia. Papers directly relating to the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation include copies of a memorandum and articles of association, as well as circulars, balance sheets, and a copy of extensive correspondence between the company and Houtum-Schindler. Also included is a copy of the general report of another company, the Persian Road and Transport Company, dated March 1891.Among the papers are four plans: three of the Elburz [Alborz] mountains (folios 33, 36 and 45) and one showing transport routes across Persia (folio 266).The German language material consists of three book titles cited by Houtum-Schindler.Physical description: Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio of volume one (ff 1-138) and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 139-276); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-276; these numbers are printed, and are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include either the front and back covers or the flyleaves of the volumes.
Abstract: The volume contains the Annual Report of the Government of Bahrain for the Hijri year 1351 AH. The report is written by the Adviser to the Bahrain Government, Sir Charles Dalrymple Belgrave.The report was submitted by Belgrave to the Political Agent at Bahrain, Percy Gordon Loch, who then forwarded it to the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, at Bushire. The correspondence relating to this process is included in the volume.The report itself (folios 8-83), submitted in June 1933, is divided into sections corresponding to a particular subject, as follows: Revenue and Expenditure; Pearl Industry; Police and Public Security; Judicial; Land Registrations; Education; Manamah Municipality; Muharraq Municipality; Artesian Wells; Agriculture; Sunni Wakf Department; Shia Wakf Department; Audit; Imperial Airways; Press Propaganda; Counterfeit Coins; Death of Shaikh Sir Isa bin Ali [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah], accession of Shaikh Hamad bin Isa [Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah]; Bahrain Electric Supply; Customs; General; Miscellaneous.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 98; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 12-83; these numbers are also written in ink, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The volume contains a monthly report
Summary of events in Turkish Iraqfor the period November 1911 to July 1914. Some reports cover more than one month. Each report was prepared by the Political Resident in Turkish Arabia and Consul General at Baghdad.The reports cover a wide range of political, economic, military, and social matters under the following sub-headings:Internal Affairs (also Turkish Affairs);Persian Affairs;Central Arabian and Kuwait Affairs;British Interests and Cases;British Indian Interests and Cases;British Official Matters;Foreign Interests and Official Matters;Commercial Matters;Miscellaneous and General.Included in the volume is an extract from
The Timesnewspaper of 24 July 1912 featuring an article on archaeological discoveries at Carchemish.Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 200; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Part 11 concerns British policy regarding the dispute between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Ibn Saud] and King Hussein of Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz] over Khurma and Tarabah [Turabah]. Much of the correspondence documents the efforts of the British to persuade the two leaders to agree to meet. It is initially proposed that the two should meet at Jeddah; however, it is reported by the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, that Bin Saud refuses to meet King Hussein at Jeddah, Aden, or Cairo, and suggests a meeting at Baghdad instead. A number of other possibilities are discussed, including the following: the Secretary of State for India's proposal of a meeting of plenipotentiaries, either at Khurma or Tarabah, as an alternative to a meeting between the two leaders themselves; a suggestion by the High Commissioner, Egypt, that the two leaders meet in London; a proposal from Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Bin Saud should be induced to meet King Hussein on board a British ship at Jeddah, or, as is later suggested, at Aden.Also included are the following:an account from Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, political officer in charge of the Nejd Mission, which recounts the last days of the mission's stay in Paris, in late December 1919;a report from the High Commissioner, Egypt, on his recent meeting with King Hussein, which relays the latter's views on the allocation of control of Syria to France;discussion regarding the growing power and influence of Bin Saud's Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces;a note on the dispute by Harry St John Bridger, in which he volunteers to induce Bin Saud to agree to a meeting at any place (outside of Hejaz) suggested by His Majesty's Government;memoranda and diary entries written by the Political Agent at Bahrain, Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, all of which discuss at length Dickson's interviews with Bin Saud at Hasa [Al Hasa] in January and February 1920;extracts from a report by the British Agent, Jeddah, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery, which recounts his recent interviews with King Hussein and the King's son, Emir Abdullah [ʿAbdullāh bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī].The item features the following principal correspondents:Secretary to the India Office's Political Department (John Evelyn Shuckburgh);Civil Commissioner, Baghdad [held in an officiating capacity by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson];High Commissioner, Egypt (Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby);Secretary of State for India [Edwin Samuel Montagu];Foreign Office;British Agent, Jeddah (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery);Political Agent, Bahrain (Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson);Bin Saud;Admiralty;Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger].Physical description: 1 item (336 folios)
Abstract: The volume contains annual trade reports for the port of Bushire [Bushehr], beginning with fiscal year 1916-17 and ending with fiscal year 1924-25. The reports are authored by the Vice-Consul, Bushire, or by other staff of the Consulate or of the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf. The reports contain information on: commodities traded; volume of trade; conditions affecting trade; comparisons with previous years; customs receipts; exchange rates; shipment rates; origins and destinations of goods; and nationality of vessels.The volume also contains correspondence and other papers related to the reports, including copies of two related reports: a Report on the Trade and Industry of Persia [Iran], written by the Commercial Secretary at the British Legation, Tehran, June 1923; and a Report on Economic Conditions in the Persian Gulf, written by the Vice-Consul, Bushire, April 1929.Four of the reports contain maps. The earliest two Bushire reports and the Report on the Trade and Industry of Persia contain maps of Persia (folios 292, 274 and 132 respectively) and the Report on Economic Conditions in the Persian Gulf contains a map of the Gulf (folio 17).As well as the Vice-Consul, the primary correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Department of Overseas Trade; and the Board of Trade.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 310; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes relating to the Kuwait trade reports for the years 1912-1930.The printed reports cover the period 1 April to 31 March and follow a similar format: a general narrative and sections on imports, exports, customs administration and lighterage, freight, shipping and navigation, sea fisheries, boat building, labour, minerals, domestic animals, agriculture, rainfall, public health, exchange rates and weights.Also included are statistical tables showing total imports and total exports by country. Further tables show total imports and exports of principal articles and by sailing craft and steamers and by quantity and value.Principal articles listed for imports include anchors, animals, arms and ammunition, barley, bamboos, cars, carpets, building materials, charcoal, coal, fruits, firewood, furniture, glass, goat hair, gunny bags, ironware, marine stores, oil products, petroleum, potatoes, rice, sail cloth, tobacco, and wood.Tables for export of principal articles (by buggalows and steamers) list the item and the country to which it is exported. These include animals (to India), barley (to Muscat and Germany), and shark-fins (to India). Export destinations listed include India, Bahrain, Muscat, Germany, the Persian Coast, and Turkish Arabia.Many of the reports include a map of Kuwait (folios 32, 54, 76, 95, 117, 145, 161, and 198).The report is sent by the Political Agent, Kuwait, to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department and then forwarded to the Permanent-Secretary, Political Department, India Office, London. Covering minute papers of the Secret Department note the year of the report and sometimes also give a viewpoint.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 370; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains papers concerning political control in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.The first half of the file relates to the inter-departmental Sub-Committee of Political Control of the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. The Sub-Committee on Political Control was chaired by Sir Norman Fenwick Warren Fisher, and its terms of reference (as stated in several documents in the file) were ‘To make recommendations as to the methods by which the existing machinery for political control in Arabia can be simplified and speeded up’, which the British Government considered to be necessary as a result of the changed conditions brought about by the extended use of air power in general, and the projected air route along the Arabian littoral of the Gulf in particular.It includes the following papers of the Sub-Committee on Political Control:Minutes of meetings of the Sub-Committee of 8 May, 15 May, and 24 October 1929Notes by the Air Ministry entitled ‘Co-operation between the Resident Persian Gulf and the A.O.C. Iraq on all questions relating to: (a) the use of air power in the Gulf regions, and (b) in particular the organisation of the air route’, and ‘The present position as regards the air route and the general methods which it is proposed to adopt to organise it’, dated 11 May 1929A copy of a despatch from the Foreign Office to Herbert George Jakins, Jeddah, of 10 April 1929, regarding the channels to be used for communications with Ibn SaudA copy of the draft report of the Sub-Committee dated 21 June 1929A document dated 4 August 1929 containing copies of comments on the draft report by the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Admiralty, and the Air MinistryA copy of the final version of the report of the Sub-Committee, dated 12 December 1929, which is divided into two parts, Part I dealing with propositions lying within the scope of the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee, and Part II concerning the possibility of the transfer to the Foreign Office of the general control of British relations with the whole of the territories in the Middle East (Part II is signed only by the Chairman of the Sub-Committee and representatives of the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Air Ministry).This part of the file also includes correspondence between Hastings Lionel Ismay, Secretary of the Sub-Committee on Political Control, and John Gilbert Laithwaite, Principal, India Office.Most of the rest of the file relates to the question of whether the India Office or the Foreign Office should take over the responsibilities in the Persian Gulf hitherto exercised by the Colonial Office.These papers include:A copy of a memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs proposing the transfer of this work to the Foreign Office, dated 10 June 1933A copy of a memorandum by the Secretary of State for India in response to the Foreign Office memorandum, stating the reasons why he thought the work in question should be dealt with in future by the India Office rather than the Foreign Office, dated 19 June 1933Correspondence between the India Office and the following: the Colonial Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; and the Foreign Office.The file also includes some correspondence regarding the possibility, raised by the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, that it might be necessary in the future to post as Under Secretary to the Resident in the Persian Gulf an Indian Member of the Political Department, and the objection of the India Office to this, on the basis that in the discussions which led up to the transfer to the India Office of the responsibility for work hitherto undertaken in the Persian Gulf by the Colonial Office, the Secretary of State for India informed the Cabinet, in response to concerns raised by other Departments, that there would be no ‘Indianisation’ of personnel in this area.In addition, the file includes some papers relating to the question of the unification of political control of the parts of Arabia for which the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Government of India were responsible, and the suggestion that a single Department of Arabian Affairs should be created, under the control of the Colonial Office.As well as the papers mentioned above, the file also includes India Office Political Department minute papers, and internal correspondence between India Office officials.The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 286; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British officials regarding military affairs in Persia [Iran].Related matters of discussion include the following: appointment and nomination of administrative officers, mainly covering salary, travelling expenses, pay rate, channels to be paid, official visits and transports, and adjustments. Also discussed are the conditions of serving on the commissions, the organisation and recommendation of improvements on the commission.The volume also covers the relationship between the Persian Government and the Anglo-Persian Military Commission and the possible service of British officers in the Persian Army. Also mentioned is the supplying of munition and equipment to the Persian Government, as agreed in the Anglo-Persian Agreement.In addition, the volume includes:‘Agreement between his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Persian Government’, 9 August 1919 (ff 258-259)‘Conditions of Service for British Officers Serving in the Persian Army’ (ff 134-143)Confidential supplement to the report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission by the British Members of the Commission (ff 87-110)Report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission, 4 April 1920, consisting of the following chapters: external and internal dangers; existing armed forces of Persia; military institutions and laws; existing communications and fertility of the country; financial position as affecting the army; confidential supplementary documents (ff 34-82)Minutes of the Inter-Departmental Conference on the report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission regarding Persia’s need of armed forces (ff 28-32)Report of Joint Anglo-Persian Military Commission on the Reorganisation of the Persian Army (f 17)Examination of initial cost of carrying out the recommendations of the Anglo-Persian Military CommissionThe Military Commission and suggested modifications (ff 18-20).The correspondence in the volume is mostly internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: Acting Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Director of Military Intelligence; War Office; and British Legation, Tehran.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 262; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present.
Abstract: The volume contains monthly news summaries compiled by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire. These were widely distributed to British ministers, senior officials and military officers in London, India and the Middle East.The copies of the news summaries in this volume were received by the India Office from the Colonial Office. The summaries are also referred to variously as the Persian Gulf news summaries, the Persian Gulf intelligence summaries and the Arab States monthly summaries.This volume contains fifty-six summaries. It begins with No. 1 of 1926, entitled
Summary of news from the Arab States for January 1926, dated 6 February 1926, and ends with No. 12 of 1930, entitled
Summary of the news from the Arab States for the month of December 1930, dated 25 January 1931.The news summaries use standard subject headings to report the latest developments in the Gulf region, starting with the movements of British officials and non-officials, Arab rulers and notables, followed by the movements of foreigners and the interests of foreign powers in the region. Other subjects regularly reported include aviation and the health of the Arab ports. These topics are followed by country profiles for Bahrein [Bahrain], Kuwait, Qatar, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, the shaikhdoms of Trucial Oman and Bin Saud’s (popularly known as Ibn Saud) kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.The country profiles report on the activities of rulers and tribes, foreign relations, local government, education, transport and communications, trade and commerce with particular emphasis on pearling and oil concessions, crime, riots and military expeditions.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (f 4).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 448; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.